Genting Highlands

A mountaintop resort city northeast of Kuala Lumpur, with Resorts World Genting's hotels, casino and indoor and outdoor theme parks all in one place, reached by cable car through misty rainforest.

Genting Highlands lies in the Titiwangsa Mountains about 50 km northeast of Kuala Lumpur, straddling the states of Pahang and Selangor. The hilltop resort sits at about 1,800 m, with temperatures of 15–25°C year-round and frequent mist, making it Malaysia's best-known mountain resort town. Developed by the Genting Group, Resorts World Genting brings together several hotels, the country's only legal land-based casino, the SkyAvenue mall, the indoor Skytropolis Funland and the outdoor Genting SkyWorlds Theme Park; the First World Hotel, once the world's largest hotel by room count, is also here. Partway up the mountain is Chin Swee Caves Temple, at the Awana SkyWay's middle station, and Genting Highlands Premium Outlets is next to the bottom station. About 20 km east down the mountain are the French-style Colmar Tropicale and the Japanese Village at Bukit Tinggi, and farther north is the old town of Bentong, famous for Musang King durians. Getting there: direct buses run from TBS, KL Sentral and elsewhere in Kuala Lumpur to the Awana SkyWay base station or the hilltop (about 1 hour), and the Awana SkyWay takes about 10 minutes up the mountain; drivers take the Karak Highway, where the climb often jams on weekends. Weather: good year-round, but it's often misty and rainy up top and cool in the mornings and evenings, so bring a jacket. Hotel prices rise and the theme parks get long queues on weekends, Malaysian public holidays and Chinese New Year, so aim for weekdays. Plan 1–2 days: one day for Genting SkyWorlds and the indoor park with SkyAvenue in the evening, and another to ride the cable car down and visit Chin Swee Caves Temple, the outlets and Colmar Tropicale; Bentong is usually a separate half-day trip or a stop on the way to or from Kuala Lumpur. The casino is open only to those 21 and over, Malaysian Muslims are prohibited from entering, and a neat dress code applies.

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